Exercise has become very important to many people for maintaining their health and vitality. To maintain an exercise routine, many athletes turn to exercise machines, for example, a treadmill. A treadmill and/or other exercise machines are generally a mechanical piece of equipment that allows an athlete to conduct a physical activity while staying in the same place. For example, a treadmill can allow a user to walk or run while staying in the same place.
Most exercise machines have rudimentary interfaces, inputs, and outputs that allow a user to change the functionality of the machine. With a treadmill, for example, the user may control the speed of the belt that the user is running on or the inclination or angle at which the user is running. Further, treadmills today commonly have an interface that allows the user to select different types of exercise routines that will maximize the effectiveness of the exercise being conducted on the machine. The machine may also include several sensors for measuring the person's heart rate or other parameter and then process that information to give feedback to the user.
Unfortunately, these interfaces still remain somewhat rudimentary. Further, these interfaces also are harder to upgrade since they are static or fixed with the machine. Most exercise equipment leave the user with wanting more functionality from the interface portion of the exercise equipment.